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Feminist Therapy Theory and Practice: A Contemporary Perspective
"In this latest volume to emerge from the work of the Feminist Therapy Institute, Ballou, Hill, West, and their contributors have done a powerful job of explicating current themes in feminist therapy practice, with a lovely balance of theory and application. The careful attention to the economic and social demands of the current political climate and their impact on feminist practice is particularly valuable for advancing feminist analysis of the role of psychotherapy in social transformation."
--Laura S. Brown, Ph.D. ABPP,
Director, Fremont Community Therapy Project
Seattle, WA
"In the twenty-plus years since the original "Handbook of Feminist Therapy" was published, members of the Feminist Therapy Institute and other forward-thinking professionals have continued to push and prod-both themselves and mainstream therapists-to examine the underpinnings of the psychotherapy endeavor. In this volume, the editors and contributors present an organized overview of the most up-to-date thinking about feminist therapy and draw attention to the alliance between feminist therapy and multicultural counseling, critical theory, and liberation psychology. Whereas most mainstream therapy models have progressed beyond a view of the therapist as an objective agent, they generally do not provide a model for understanding the therapist's and, for that matter, the client's beliefs, experiences, and world view. The contextual ecological feminist model explicated here articulates a means of examining the contextual and ecological elements of person's worlds.
"The authors of this volume have nicely illustrated feminist therapy's key tenets-to illuminate the multiple spheres of influence in clients' lives, to empower clients as well as ameliorate their distress, to appreciate the linkages among sociostructural, cultural and relational influences, and to work for social justice-in well-drawn theoretical explanations and carefully detailed case examples that bring us to the cutting edge of contemporary feminist therapy."
--Maryka Biaggio, PhD
Psychologist, Consultant, and Writer, Portland, Oregon
--Laura S. Brown, Ph.D. ABPP,
Director, Fremont Community Therapy Project
Seattle, WA
"In the twenty-plus years since the original "Handbook of Feminist Therapy" was published, members of the Feminist Therapy Institute and other forward-thinking professionals have continued to push and prod-both themselves and mainstream therapists-to examine the underpinnings of the psychotherapy endeavor. In this volume, the editors and contributors present an organized overview of the most up-to-date thinking about feminist therapy and draw attention to the alliance between feminist therapy and multicultural counseling, critical theory, and liberation psychology. Whereas most mainstream therapy models have progressed beyond a view of the therapist as an objective agent, they generally do not provide a model for understanding the therapist's and, for that matter, the client's beliefs, experiences, and world view. The contextual ecological feminist model explicated here articulates a means of examining the contextual and ecological elements of person's worlds.
"The authors of this volume have nicely illustrated feminist therapy's key tenets-to illuminate the multiple spheres of influence in clients' lives, to empower clients as well as ameliorate their distress, to appreciate the linkages among sociostructural, cultural and relational influences, and to work for social justice-in well-drawn theoretical explanations and carefully detailed case examples that bring us to the cutting edge of contemporary feminist therapy."
--Maryka Biaggio, PhD
Psychologist, Consultant, and Writer, Portland, Oregon
228 pages, Hardcover
First published November 8, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 12, 2023
The personal is the political.
Think globally, act locally.
Think contextually, act personally.
Feminist therapy (FT) is a postmodern therapeutic approach grounded in feminist theory and philosophy.
FT’s primary focus is educate and empower the individual/person in therapy to to identify, deconstruct and become liberated from the deleterious effects of systemic oppression e.g., sexism in systems of patriarchy, racism in systems of white supremacy, homophobia in systems of heteronormativity, poverty and environmental degradation in late capitalism.
This book is a REALLY great resource.
Highly recommended.
5/5 stars ⭐️
Think globally, act locally.
Think contextually, act personally.
Feminist therapy (FT) is a postmodern therapeutic approach grounded in feminist theory and philosophy.
FT’s primary focus is educate and empower the individual/person in therapy to to identify, deconstruct and become liberated from the deleterious effects of systemic oppression e.g., sexism in systems of patriarchy, racism in systems of white supremacy, homophobia in systems of heteronormativity, poverty and environmental degradation in late capitalism.
This book is a REALLY great resource.
Highly recommended.
5/5 stars ⭐️
May 5, 2022
Really excellent introduction to and overview of feminist therapy as a distinct theoretical orientation.
This book goes more in depth than the Laura Brown short text by APA. It also provides in depth case studies that help orient the reader to what feminist therapy looks like in practice. It doesn’t go into as much detail about specific techniques, but part of that is because feminist therapy is not a “technique.” It’s a way of conceptualizing the client and a worldview. Many techniques can be integrated into a feminist perspective if they are applied in ways that empower the client, call attention to the sociopolitical context of therapy and mental suffering, and work towards a more socially just world.
This text is also a cohesive volume as opposed to the many anthologies on feminist therapy that exist. It can be read straight through as a manuscript and it covers many areas of feminist therapy in depth. Very helpful to the beginning student. This is a powerful approach that all beginning mental health providers should learn and strive to incorporate. Far superior to the medical model.
Also, to the person who claimed that feminist therapy is indistinguishable from an ecological approach: what book were you reading? There are very clear differences, such as the focus on power relations and social justice and the belief that therapy is political, as well as the explicit commitment to a feminist politics of empowerment and social justice.
This book goes more in depth than the Laura Brown short text by APA. It also provides in depth case studies that help orient the reader to what feminist therapy looks like in practice. It doesn’t go into as much detail about specific techniques, but part of that is because feminist therapy is not a “technique.” It’s a way of conceptualizing the client and a worldview. Many techniques can be integrated into a feminist perspective if they are applied in ways that empower the client, call attention to the sociopolitical context of therapy and mental suffering, and work towards a more socially just world.
This text is also a cohesive volume as opposed to the many anthologies on feminist therapy that exist. It can be read straight through as a manuscript and it covers many areas of feminist therapy in depth. Very helpful to the beginning student. This is a powerful approach that all beginning mental health providers should learn and strive to incorporate. Far superior to the medical model.
Also, to the person who claimed that feminist therapy is indistinguishable from an ecological approach: what book were you reading? There are very clear differences, such as the focus on power relations and social justice and the belief that therapy is political, as well as the explicit commitment to a feminist politics of empowerment and social justice.
March 1, 2019
Read this for a graduate class I just took. Very good perspective on how to apply feminist therapy to current practices in the field.
July 24, 2013
This is most likely attributed to the work and influence of third wave feminism in contemporary social science, but I couldn't help feeling like this book was a non-essential rehashing of ecological systems theory and basic counseling technique. It seems to me that anyone interested in liberatory psychology would take the principles mentioned in this book as given rather than novel concepts. I kept trying to find a theory or practice behavior that would distinguish Feminist Practice from therapeutic skill that integrated systems thinking and CBT.
This text would be a good introduction for a counseling student that has never encountered feminist theory in school, but personally it didn't have the bite I was looking for.
This text would be a good introduction for a counseling student that has never encountered feminist theory in school, but personally it didn't have the bite I was looking for.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews